shut

[ shuht ]

/ ʃʌt /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR shut ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), shut, shut·ting.

to put (a door, cover, etc.) in position to close or obstruct.

to close the doors of (often followed by up): to shut up a shop for the night.

to close (something) by bringing together or folding its parts: Shut your book. Shut the window!

to confine; enclose: to shut a bird into a cage.

to bar; exclude: They shut him from their circle.

to cause (a factory, school, etc.) to end or suspend operations, services, or business activity: He shut his store, sold his house, and moved away. We're shutting the office for two weeks in June.

to bolt; bar.

verb (used without object), shut, shut·ting.

to become shut or closed; close.

adjective

closed; fastened up: a shut door.

Phonetics. checked(def 2).

noun

the act or time of shutting or closing.

the line where two pieces of welded metal are united.

Verb Phrases

shut down,

to close, especially temporarily; end or suspend operations, services, or business activity.
to stop operating or stop the operation of (a machine): Did you remember to shut down your computer?
Also shut down on/upon.Informal. to hinder; check; stop from doing or saying something: He appeared on the talk show to shut down his critics.
Informal. to defeat or outdo:The team was able to shut down the offense.
to settle over so as to envelop or darken: The fog shut down rapidly.

shut in,

to enclose.
to confine, as from illness: She broke her leg in a fall and has been shut in for several weeks.

shut of, Informal. free of; rid of: He wished he were shut of all his debts.

shut off,

to stop the passage of (water, traffic, electricity, etc.); close off.
to isolate; separate: an outpost almost completely shut off from civilization.

shut out,

to keep from entering; exclude.
to hide from view.
to prevent (an opponent or opposing team) from scoring, as in a game of baseball.

shut up,

to imprison; confine.
to close entirely.
to stop talking; become silent: I thought the neighbors would never shut up and let me sleep.
to stop (someone) from talking; silence.

QUIZZES

DO YOU KNOW THIS VOCABULARY FROM "THE HANDMAID'S TALE"?

"The Handmaid's Tale" was required reading for many of us in school. Everyone else has probably watched the very popular and addictive TV show. Do you remember this vocabulary from the book, and do you know what these terms mean?

Question 1 of 10

decorum

the act of or need for making up one's mind.

dignified propriety of behavior, speech, dress, etc.

a company of singers, especially an organized group employed in church service.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of shut

before 1000; Middle English s(c)hutten, s(c)hetten, s(c)hitten Old English scyttan “to bolt (a door)”; akin to shoot¹

SYNONYMS FOR shut

4 jail, imprison, cage.

5 prohibit.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR shut ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR shut

1 open.

SEE ANTONYMS FOR shut ON THESAURUS.COM

synonym study for shut

1. See close.

OTHER WORDS FROM shut

half-shut, adjectivere·shut, verb, re·shut, re·shut·ting.un·shut, adjective

Words nearby shut

shunting engine, shunto, shura, shush, shushan, shut, shut down, shut off, shut one's eyes to, shut out, shut the door

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for shut

And so it was that the federal government did not shut down just when we all had visions of sugar plumbs dancing in our heads.
Congress’ Gift That Keeps on Giving|P. J. O’Rourke|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He immediately tried to shut the window before saying anything else.
The Life and Hard Times Of The Family A Cuban Defector Left Behind|Brin-Jonathan Butler|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Over the years, several MPs have alleged cover-ups or suggested that investigations were shut down by senior security officials.
Victim: I Watched British MPs Rape and Murder Young Boys|Nico Hines|December 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But of course, the union was shut out of the process, according to spokesman George Atallah.
Roger Goodell and the NFL’s Path to Power|Robert Silverman|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST

“Sit down and shut up” was how all important family discussions began and ended where the rest of America grew up.
Why 2016’s Hopefuls Are Hopeless|P. J. O’Rourke|November 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Frantically, she looked around for something to hold it shut.
The Saracen: The Holy War|Robert Shea
We stop the night at Henzada, and dine on deck, shut off from the night by a glass partition.
From Edinburgh to India & Burmah|William G. Burn Murdoch
There had been a meeting of the Committee, and the club was shut up.
The Way We Live Now|Anthony Trollope
I cannot tell you anything of the time I spent there, shut up in the gloomy castle; it was horrible beyond all words.
A Monk of Cruta|E. Phillips Oppenheim
She was shut up, and her manner appeared hard and ungracious while her heart was dissolving in emotions.
Household Education|Harriet Martineau

British Dictionary definitions for shut

shut

/ (ʃʌt) /

verb shuts, shutting or shut

to move (something) so as to cover an aperture; closeto shut a door

to close (something) by bringing together the partsto shut a book

(tr often foll by up) to close or lock the doors ofto shut up a house

(tr; foll by in, out, etc) to confine, enclose, or excludeto shut a child in a room

(tr) to prevent (a business, etc) from operating

shut one's eyes to to ignore deliberately

shut the door on

to refuse to think about
to render impossible